Global pop sensation, multi-platinum selling superstar, ARIA Award winner and 5x Grammy nominated singer-songwriter SIA has bought her spectacular NOSTALGIC FOR THE PRESENT TOUR to Australia only playing two shows, one in Melbourne and the other, tonight in Sydney. SIA is not alone on this stadium spectacular, adding to the line-up are three of the most exciting female artists on the local and global music stage, Amy Shark, MØ and Charli XCX. Wow! What a stellar all-female line-up and an absolute Australian Exclusive.
As the rain poured down upon Allianz Stadium the people poured inside, those of us early enough caught the adorable Amy Shark lay down her sweet-sounding hits of Drive You Mad, Weekend and finishing off with Adore, and in this huge arena setting I thought she sounded great. Following on from her was the stunning Danish singer MØ, her indie electropop sound adding some movement to crowd as she laid down her biggest known tracks Kamikaze, the Major Lazer and Snakehips collaboration Don’t Leave and finishing off her set with the huge Lean On. Wow, now those two ladies have both lit up the stage and got us moving it was now time for the power house British singer Charli XCX to really amp it up and shake off the rain with her electro hits of Boys, Dirty Sexy Money, Fancy and Boom Clap. Yeah, just what was needed, some ass shaking to get us warmed up for the main act in tonight’s spectacular.
No doubt the rain had hit us hard but there was no dampening the spirits of those who came out tonight. As I look out across the stadium I see blue and yellow ponchos are now the must-have fashion item of the night. The enthusiasm on the fans faces, especially in the younger audience members, was clearly visible and seeing how many fans got their hands on a signature SIA blonde and black wig from the merch stand just made a statement of ‘we came to have a good time rain or not.’
As those in their seats huddled together for warmth, others would congregate in the corridors waiting for the main event to kick off and when that figurative whistle blew, the songstress appeared on a platform towards the back of the stage in an oversized white dress against a simple plain white back drop, and draped in her signature blonde and black wig that hides her appearance as always, but there is just no mistaking that amazing voice as she opens the show with Alive.
SIA has many notable hits, some written and performed by herself and some by a few of the world’s biggest artist such as the Rhianna track Diamonds. On this track one of SIA’s dancers would act as human mirror ball lighting up the stage, it was beautiful visual effect in one of the opening moments of the night. So much of tonight’s captivating show would be in the performance of her three dancers, most notably teen Maddie Ziegler who is the star of so many of SIA’s video clips. This young dance sensation would put on a powerful performance accompanied by another two performance artists.
I found tonight’s show was best absorbed by watching the big screens and this was especially significant when on some tracks pre-recorded videos were utilised. These videos featured actors Gaby Hoffman, Tig Notaro and Kristen Wiig and our very own Ben Mendelsohn all wearing the signature wig in film clips whilst the dancer’s acted things out on stage. Whilst for some fans this was not quite what they expected, others who know her work well thought it was total SIA.
Love it or hate it one thing you cannot deny is that her vocals blew us all away, there is just no denying it and that was evident as the set list went on. By saving her best for last SIA got us all moving and the whole of Allianz Stadium was awash in the glow of mobile phone lighting as she sang out the smash hit Titanium, the club anthem would be sung over a piano and it came across as more acoustic, showcasing her voice and piercing the night sky. This set us up for the big finisher in Chandelier and we all were quite happy to sing and dance along, and to rain out a tremendous applause for tonight’s show hoping to ‘See Her Ah Gain”
Review – Chad
Photo Gallery – Christian Ross